Tips for Using a Phone with Hearing Aids [Infographic]

Discover how to use a hearing aid compatible telephone to make calls with ease.

Using a phone can feel a little different with hearing aids. You may have experienced feedback or been unsure of how to get the best sound quality. The tips in this post for using a phone with hearing aids will help you manage these conversations with ease! You can use most of these tips with cell phones or any home phone, keeping in mind that a hearing aid compatible telephone offers additional benefits for hearing aid users.

Tips for using a phone with hearing aids:

Put your phone on speaker mode

Hold the phone up near your hearing aid microphone

Tilt the speaker away to prevent feedback

Take calls directly to your hearing aids

Try a hearing aid compatible captioned telephone

Learn more about our tips for using a phone with hearing aids in the rest of the article below.

Put your phone on speaker mode Turning on your speakerphone mode has a couple of benefits when you’re using a hearing aid. First, it allows you to hold or not have the earpiece next to your hearing aid, reducing the chance of any interference. Second, since you’re holding the phone further away, it allows you to listen with two ears instead of one for dual listening power.

Hold the phone up near your hearing aid microphone Another tip for using a phone with hearing aids has to do with where you hold the phone. Depending on the power of your hearing aid and the volume of your phone, you can do a little experimenting to determine the ideal distance between your phone and your hearing aid microphone. Especially if you’re not able to use speakerphone during a call, holding the phone near your hearing aid’s microphone will let you pick up the sound as clearly as possible.

Tilt the speaker away to prevent feedbackHearing aid feedback can sound like a whistle, screech, hiss, or another sound. You may not experience this feedback if you have a newer hearing aid or a hearing aid telephone with technology that helps reduce interference. However, if you do notice disruptive feedback noises, tilting your phone’s speaker away from your hearing aid can help.

Take calls directly to your hearing aids If you have Bluetooth®-enabled hearing aids and a phone with Bluetooth compatability as well, you can connect the two to deliver the sound directly to your ears. Or, you may have a hearing aid with telecoil technology, in which case you can funnel sound directly from a T-coil compatible phone.

Try a hearing aid telephone with captioning When considering these tips for using a phone with hearing aids, it’s important to note that hearing aid compatible telephones add some extra features that most traditional phones don’t have. For instance, they can amplify sound louder than traditional phones and offer tone control that you can personalize to your ideal hearing level. Captioned hearing aid telephones amp up these benefits even more because you can also read the caller’s words on a display screen. This combination of reading and listening to phone conversations helps ensure you never miss a beat!

CapTel captioned telephones are designed specifically with hearing aid users in mind. They all come with a no-cost captioning service, hearing aid compatible handset, and customized volume and tone control features. The different models may also include special features like Bluetooth compatibility and extra-large font sizes for easy reading. Shop our collection of hearing aid telephones online or call (800) 233-9130 for customer service today.

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FEDERAL LAW PROHIBITS ANYONE BUT REGISTERED USERS WITH HEARING LOSS FROM USING INTERNET PROTOCOL (IP) CAPTIONED TELEPHONES WITH THE CAPTIONS TURNED ON. IP Captioned Telephone Service may use a live operator. The operator generates captions of what the other party to the call says. These captions are then sent to your phone. There is a cost for each minute of captions generated, paid from a federally administered fund. No cost is passed on to the CapTel user for using the service. CapTel captioning service is intended exclusively for individuals with hearing loss. CapTel® is a registered trademark of Ultratec, Inc. (v5.6 10-19)